Quick Answer
Contemplative prayer is wordless, receptive prayer in which the soul rests in God's presence beyond thought and language. Rooted in the Desert Fathers (3rd century CE), it flows through Lectio Divina, The Cloud of Unknowing, Julian of Norwich, John of the Cross, and into the modern Centering Prayer revival. It is the heart of the Christian mystical tradition: not speaking to God but resting in God, in a silence that is itself a form of union.
Key Takeaways
- Beyond words and images: Contemplative prayer is not asking, thanking, or thinking about God, but resting in God's presence in a silence that transcends ordinary prayer. The tradition calls this "infused contemplation" when it is given as a grace rather than achieved by technique.
- The Desert Fathers founded it: Anthony the Great and the fourth-century Egyptian desert monastics developed the first systematic practices: hesychia (stillness), the Jesus Prayer, and the transmission of spiritual wisdom from elder to disciple.
- Lectio Divina as the doorway: Sacred reading (Lectio, Meditatio, Oratio, Contemplatio) is the classical method for moving from active engagement with a text toward receptive silence. It is still practiced in Benedictine, Trappist, and many other communities today.
- The Cloud of Unknowing: The anonymous fourteenth-century English masterpiece teaches that God cannot be reached by intellect but only by love, a naked intent toward God pressing through the cloud of unknowing into silent union.
- Rudolf Steiner connection: Steiner's path of inner development in Knowledge of Higher Worlds (GA 10) parallels the classical threefold mystical path (purgation, illumination, union), and he discussed the Desert Fathers and Christian mystics as genuine spiritual scientists working within the forms available to their age.
Important Notice
The information in this article is for educational and spiritual exploration purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or therapeutic advice. Those experiencing significant mental health challenges should consult a qualified healthcare provider before undertaking intensive contemplative practices.
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What Is Contemplative Prayer?
Contemplative prayer is the form of prayer that lies beyond words. Where vocal prayer addresses God in spoken or written language, and mental prayer (or meditation in the traditional Christian sense) engages the mind in thinking about divine truths, contemplative prayer is wordless, receptive, and open. It does not ask or tell; it rests. It does not think about God; it rests in God's presence.
Thomas Merton, the twentieth century's most widely read contemplative writer, described it as "the opening of mind and heart, indeed of the whole human being, to God, the Ultimate Mystery, beyond all thoughts, words, and emotions." The Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraph 2724) calls it "a gaze of faith fixed on Jesus... a silence of love."
Contemplation vs. Meditation in the Christian Tradition
In the classical Christian usage, meditation (meditatio) is active: the mind works on a text, an image, or a truth, turning it over, making connections, drawing affective conclusions. Contemplation (contemplatio) is receptive: the mind ceases its active work and simply rests in the presence it has been thinking about. Guigo II, a twelfth-century Carthusian, described the relationship as: "Reading puts the food whole into the mouth. Meditation chews it and breaks it up. Prayer extracts its flavor. Contemplation is the sweetness itself which gladdens and refreshes." Modern usage has somewhat reversed these terms, often using "meditation" for Eastern-derived silent practices and "contemplation" for active theological reflection, but the classical hierarchy still governs the contemplative tradition.
The tradition distinguishes two kinds of contemplation. Acquired (or active) contemplation is a deepened state of recollected prayer that a person can enter through practiced discipline: regular silence, simplified prayer, and the sustained practice of Lectio Divina. Infused (or passive) contemplation is a gift of grace that the soul receives rather than achieves: a direct, non-conceptual experience of divine presence that the tradition describes as beyond all human effort or technique. John of the Cross is the tradition's most precise analyst of infused contemplation and its signs.
The Desert Fathers: Where It All Began
The systematic practice of contemplative prayer in Christianity began in the Egyptian and Syrian deserts in the late third and fourth centuries CE. Anthony the Great (c.251-356), who withdrew to the desert around 270 CE and is venerated as the father of Christian monasticism, initiated a movement that would rapidly spread across the eastern Mediterranean and eventually transform Western Christianity.
The Desert Fathers (and Mothers, including Amma Syncletica and Amma Sarah) did not primarily write systematic theology. Their wisdom was transmitted in brief, practical sayings collected in the Apophthegmata Patrum (Sayings of the Desert Fathers). These sayings are intensely practical: "Stay in your cell and your cell will teach you everything." "The beginning of prayer is to drive out distractions." "If you see a young man climbing up to heaven by his own will, grab him by the foot and pull him down."
Evagrius Ponticus and the Psychology of Prayer
Evagrius Ponticus (c.345-399 CE) was the Desert Fathers' first systematic theologian. He developed a careful analysis of the "logismoi" (intrusive thoughts) that disturb contemplative prayer and proposed specific practices for working with them. His eight categories of problematic thoughts (gluttony, lust, avarice, sadness, anger, listlessness/acedia, vainglory, and pride) were later adapted by John Cassian and became, in modified form, the traditional seven deadly sins. His account of pure prayer, "a state of the intellect in which all conceptual forms dissolve before the light of the Holy Trinity," is one of the earliest descriptions of apophatic contemplation in Christian literature. Many of his writings were condemned posthumously in 553 CE due to his connection with Origen, but his psychological analysis of prayer was preserved in modified form by later writers.
John Cassian (c.360-435 CE) transmitted the Desert Father tradition to the Latin West through his Institutes and Conferences, written for the communities he founded in Marseille. His transmission was influential on Benedict of Nursia (c.480-c.547 CE), whose Rule for Monasteries made Lectio Divina a central element of the daily monastic schedule, embedding the contemplative tradition permanently in Western Christian institutional life. The Benedictine motto "Ora et Labora" (Pray and Work) was understood from the beginning to include the possibility of contemplative prayer as the deepest form of the "ora."
The Threefold Mystical Path
The Pseudo-Dionysian tradition gave the Christian mystical path its most influential structural description: three stages of movement toward God, known as the Purgative Way, the Illuminative Way, and the Unitive Way.
| Stage | Latin Name | What Happens | Key Figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purgative Way | Via Purgativa | Purification from sin, disordered attachment, and ego-centered patterns of behavior and thought | Desert Fathers, John Cassian |
| Illuminative Way | Via Illuminativa | Growing knowledge of God, integration of virtues, increasing simplification and recollection of prayer | Meister Eckhart, Julian of Norwich |
| Unitive Way | Via Unitiva | Transforming union with God, characterized by peace, charity, and participation in divine life | John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila |
Most serious practitioners and spiritual directors emphasize that these stages are not a simple linear sequence completed once. They are more like a spiral or a series of nested movements: a person may pass through purgation, illumination, and union at a shallow level, then return to purgation at a deeper level, then pass through illumination and union again more fully. John of the Cross described two major "dark nights," the active and passive nights of the senses, and the active and passive nights of the spirit, as distinct phases of purification at deeper levels of the soul.
Lectio Divina: The Practice of Sacred Reading
Lectio Divina (Sacred Reading) is the classical practice through which contemplative prayer is cultivated in the Western Christian tradition. Its formal structure was articulated by Guigo II, a Carthusian monk, in his twelfth-century treatise Scala Claustralium (The Ladder of Monks), though the practice itself goes back to the Desert Fathers and was embedded in the Benedictine Rule from the sixth century.
The four classical movements of Lectio Divina are:
Lectio (Reading): A short passage of scripture or sacred text is read slowly, two or three times, listening for a word or phrase that seems alive, that speaks directly to the reader in this moment. The selection is typically brief, not more than 8-12 verses. The intention is not to cover ground but to listen.
Meditatio (Meditation): The word or phrase that stands out is repeated slowly, allowed to resonate through the whole person. Associations, memories, images, and feelings may arise. The practitioner allows the word to work on them rather than working on the word. This is the stage that the tradition calls "rumination," a bovine image, the chewing of the cud.
Oratio (Prayer): A natural response arises from the meditation. It may be gratitude, contrition, petition, wonder, or love. The practitioner responds to God from whatever has been stirred. This prayer is personal and genuine, not formulaic.
Contemplatio (Contemplation): The response itself is released. The practitioner rests in silence, without words, without content, simply present to divine presence. If thoughts arise, they are gently released. This is the contemplative moment: not doing but being.
A fifth movement, Actio (Action), is increasingly included in contemporary presentations: the insight or gift received in the silence is carried into daily life and expressed in concrete action. This prevents contemplation from becoming spiritually privatized.
How to Practice Lectio Divina
Step 1: Lectio, Sacred Reading
Choose a short passage of scripture or sacred text, no more than 8-12 verses. Read it slowly, once or twice, listening for a word or phrase that seems to speak directly to you right now. Do not analyze. Simply receive what comes. If nothing stands out, read once more and accept whatever arrives.
Step 2: Meditatio, Meditation
Repeat the word or phrase quietly, aloud or inwardly, letting it resonate through your whole being. Notice what feelings, memories, or images arise around it. Allow at least 5-10 minutes for this. Let the word work in you rather than working on the word. Bovine patience, the tradition says, not intellectual urgency.
Step 3: Oratio, Prayer
Respond to God from whatever has arisen in you during meditation. This may be gratitude, petition, sorrow, wonder, or simply a wordless turning toward the divine presence. Let the response be genuine rather than performed. There is no wrong response if it is honest.
Step 4: Contemplatio, Contemplation
Release both the text and your response. Simply rest in the divine presence, without words or specific content. If thoughts arise, gently return to the sacred word as an anchor. Allow 10-20 minutes for this. The resting itself is the practice: you are not trying to produce an experience but to remain present and open.
Step 5: Actio, Living the Word
After the practice, notice how the word or insight wants to express itself in your day. Does it call for a specific act of kindness, patience, or truth-telling? Contemplative prayer that does not eventually touch concrete action tends to become ethereal and disconnected from the life being lived. The word received in silence seeks to become flesh.
The Cloud of Unknowing and English Mysticism
The fourteenth century produced an extraordinary flowering of English mystical writing. Richard Rolle (c.1300-1349), Walter Hilton (c.1343-1396), the anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing (c.1375), and Julian of Norwich (c.1342-c.1416) constitute the richest concentration of contemplative literature in medieval English, and each offers a distinct and complementary perspective on the inner life.
Richard Rolle described contemplative experience in terms of three experiential signs: calor (heat, a physical warmth in the chest), dulcor (sweetness, a taste of divine love), and canor (song, an interior music that fills the soul). His experiential, affective account of contemplation was influential but also attracted criticism for apparently making specific sensory experiences the criterion of authentic prayer, a concern that the author of The Cloud shared.
The Cloud of Unknowing: Pressing Through Darkness
The anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing taught that between the soul and God lies a cloud of unknowing that no thought can penetrate. God is beyond every concept, image, or feeling. The only movement that can reach through the cloud is love: a "naked intent toward God," a short, sharp dart of love pressed upward through the darkness. Below the soul, between it and created things, lies a "cloud of forgetting." Whatever distracts the soul (memories, thoughts, sensations, even holy images) must be pressed down under this cloud so the soul's whole energy can move upward. The practice is simultaneously one of the most demanding and most accessible in the contemplative tradition: it requires nothing except the willingness to love without content.
Walter Hilton's Scale of Perfection describes two levels of reform available to the soul: reform in faith (the basic Christian conversion) and reform in feeling (the deeper, contemplative transformation in which the image of God in the soul is restored to its original clarity). Hilton's account is careful, psychologically sensitive, and more attentive to the ordinary struggles of the contemplative life than the Cloud author's more elevated perspective.
Julian of Norwich, an anchoress enclosed at the Church of St Julian in Norwich, received sixteen visions ("showings") during a severe illness on May 8, 1373, at the age of approximately 30. She spent the next twenty years deepening her understanding of what she had seen and wrote the Long Text of her Revelations of Divine Love, the first book in English known to have been written by a woman. Her central insight is stated in her most famous line: "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well." This is not optimism or denial but a mystical perception: she saw that even sin and suffering are held within a divine love that cannot ultimately be defeated.
Rhineland and Carmelite Masters
The fourteenth-century Rhineland tradition, shaped by the Dominican intellectual culture that Albertus Magnus had founded at Cologne, produced the most philosophically rigorous mystical theology of the medieval period. Meister Eckhart (c.1260-1328), Johannes Tauler (c.1300-1361), and Henry Suso (c.1295-1366) each developed distinct aspects of the contemplative tradition grounded in Neoplatonic metaphysics and Dominican theology.
Eckhart's teaching on the "ground of the soul" (the Seelengrund), the deepest point of the human person where the soul touches the divine ground, was his most distinctive contribution to contemplative theology. In this ground, which is beyond all faculties and beyond all images, the soul is most itself and simultaneously most one with God. The "spark" or "scintilla animae" that Eckhart described was the point of the soul's closest contact with divinity, accessible through contemplative prayer that stripped away all images, concepts, and even the structured forms of traditional devotion.
The Carmelite tradition, centered on Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) and John of the Cross (1542-1591), produced the tradition's most systematic accounts of contemplative prayer in its advanced stages. Teresa's Interior Castle describes the soul's movement through seven "dwelling places" toward the innermost chamber where spiritual marriage with God occurs. John's Dark Night of the Soul analyzes the systematic purifications (the "dark nights") that God works in the soul in preparation for transforming union, stripping away all consolation, spiritual experience, and ultimately even the conscious sense of God's presence, so that the deepest union may occur beyond all feeling.
Centering Prayer: A Modern Revival
In the 1970s, three Trappist monks at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts, concerned that the rich heritage of Christian contemplative prayer was inaccessible to ordinary laypeople, developed a simplified method they called Centering Prayer. Thomas Keating, Basil Pennington, and William Meninger drew primarily on The Cloud of Unknowing and John of the Cross to create a method that could be practiced by anyone.
The method is simple. Choose a sacred word (such as "God," "Jesus," "Love," or "Peace") as a symbol of your consent to God's presence and action within you. Sit comfortably with eyes closed. Silently introduce the sacred word. When thoughts arise (and they will), gently return to the sacred word. At the end of the session (typically 20-30 minutes, twice daily), remain in silence for a couple of minutes before resuming normal activity.
Centering Prayer and Its Critics
Centering Prayer has been both widely embraced and criticized. Supporters argue that it gives a simple, accessible form to what the tradition calls acquired contemplation, opening the possibility of deeper prayer to millions who would otherwise never encounter this dimension of spiritual life. Critics, including some within the Catholic tradition (notably the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's 1989 letter "Some Aspects of Christian Meditation"), have raised concerns about the degree to which Centering Prayer's methodology resembles Eastern meditation techniques and whether it adequately preserves the personal, relational character of Christian prayer. Thomas Keating responded to these concerns in detail, arguing that the method is thoroughly rooted in the Christian tradition and the distinction between Christian and non-Christian contemplation lies in intention and context, not in the mechanics of silence.
Hesychasm and the Eastern Tradition
The Eastern Orthodox tradition developed its own rich contemplative path, called hesychasm (from the Greek hesychia, stillness or quietude). Where the Western tradition focused on Lectio Divina and the progressive simplification of discursive prayer, the Eastern tradition centered on the continuous practice of the Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."
This prayer, repeated in rhythm with the breath (and eventually, according to the tradition, synchronized with the heartbeat), gradually becomes the constant background of the hesychast's consciousness, a form of ceaseless prayer that Paul commanded in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. The goal is hesychia: a deep inner stillness in which the soul becomes receptive to the uncreated divine light.
Gregory Palamas (1296-1359) was the hesychast tradition's greatest theologian. He defended the hesychasts' claim to directly experience divine light (such as the light seen by the apostles at the Transfiguration) against the criticism that God is absolutely unknowable and no direct experience of divinity is possible. His solution was the distinction between God's essence (absolutely unknowable) and God's energies (genuinely present and accessible in prayer). The energies are not a created intermediary but are truly divine and truly participable by the purified soul. This theology of divine energies remains one of Eastern Orthodoxy's most distinctive and influential contributions to Christian thought.
Steiner on the Contemplative Path
Rudolf Steiner engaged with the Christian contemplative tradition at multiple levels throughout his work. In Knowledge of Higher Worlds and Its Attainment (GA 10), he described a path of inner development whose stages (preparation, enlightenment, initiation) structurally parallel the classical threefold mystical path of purgation, illumination, and union. Steiner presented this as a non-confessional, scientific path available to anyone, not requiring specific religious belief, but the structural homology with the Christian tradition is unmistakable.
In Mystics of the Renaissance (GA 7) and Riddles of Philosophy (GA 18), Steiner discussed the major figures of the Western mystical tradition: Meister Eckhart, Johannes Tauler, and others. He regarded their experiences as genuine encounters with spiritual realities, expressed in the theological and philosophical language available to their time and culture. From a Steinerian perspective, the contemplative tradition's insistence on going beyond images and concepts in prayer corresponds to the need, in spiritual science, to develop a mode of cognition that is not dependent on sense-derived images but can perceive spiritual realities directly.
The Silence and the Anthroposophical Path
Steiner's specific meditation practices, detailed in How to Know Higher Worlds and in the various meditation texts he gave to individuals and to the School for Spiritual Science, share key features with the contemplative prayer tradition: the development of heightened attention, the progressive quieting of the ordinary discursive mind, the cultivation of moral qualities (patience, equanimity, openness) as prerequisites for spiritual perception, and the movement toward forms of cognition that are participatory and relational rather than objective and detached. Steiner was clear that his path was distinct from Christian mysticism in method and conceptual framework, but he was also clear that genuine Christian mystics had authentic spiritual experiences. He considered the differences between the paths primarily a matter of cultural form and conceptual articulation rather than spiritual substance.
For those approaching the contemplative prayer tradition from a Steinerian or broadly spiritual framework, the practice of Lectio Divina offers a particularly useful bridge. It combines attentive, receptive engagement with sacred text (analogous to Steiner's meditative reading of spiritual scientific texts) with a movement toward silent receptivity that opens toward genuine spiritual experience. The tradition's insistence on discernment, the careful testing of spiritual experiences against the fruits they produce in daily life (love, humility, service), is also deeply compatible with Steiner's own emphasis on the ethical dimension of genuine spiritual development.
The contemplative prayer tradition connects naturally to the broader philosophical stream we have been exploring in this series. The Dionysian apophatic tradition that shaped The Cloud of Unknowing, the Neoplatonic inheritance that Meister Eckhart received through Albertus Magnus, and the Franciscan affective spirituality that produced Julian of Norwich are all expressions of a single deep impulse: the human soul's movement beyond its ordinary boundaries toward the ground of its own being, which is simultaneously the ground of all being.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Way of the Heart: A Study of Contemplative Prayer and Inner Devotion by Nouwen, Henri J. M.
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What is contemplative prayer?
Contemplative prayer is a form of wordless, receptive prayer in which the person rests in the divine presence beyond thought and language. It differs from vocal prayer (reciting words) and mental prayer (thinking about God) in that it seeks a direct, pre-conceptual contact with the divine. The contemplative tradition describes it as moving beyond words and images into a silent union where the soul rests in God without any particular content. This tradition is central to Christian monasticism and to many other spiritual traditions.
What is the difference between meditation and contemplative prayer?
In the classical Christian usage, meditation (meditatio) is active: the mind works on a text, an image, or a truth. Contemplation (contemplatio) is receptive: the mind ceases its active work and simply rests in the presence it has been thinking about. Guigo II described the relationship as: "Reading puts the food whole into the mouth. Meditation chews it. Prayer extracts its flavor. Contemplation is the sweetness itself." Modern usage often reverses these terms, using "meditation" for Eastern-derived silent practices, but the classical hierarchy still governs the contemplative tradition.
What is Lectio Divina?
Lectio Divina (Sacred Reading) is the ancient practice of prayerful reading of scripture or sacred texts in four movements: Lectio (reading a short passage slowly), Meditatio (sitting with a word or phrase that stands out), Oratio (responding to God from what has arisen), and Contemplatio (releasing words and resting in silent presence). A fifth movement, Actio (living what was received), is sometimes added. The practice was systematized by Guigo II in the twelfth century, though it goes back to the Desert Fathers.
What is Centering Prayer?
Centering Prayer is a contemporary form of contemplative prayer developed in the 1970s by three Trappist monks: Thomas Keating, Basil Pennington, and William Meninger, drawing primarily on The Cloud of Unknowing. The method involves choosing a sacred word as a symbol of consent to God's presence, silently resting in that presence, and gently returning to the sacred word whenever thoughts arise. Sessions typically last 20-30 minutes twice daily.
What is The Cloud of Unknowing?
The Cloud of Unknowing is an anonymous mystical text written in Middle English around 1375. The author teaches that God cannot be grasped by thought or concept: between the soul and God lies a "cloud of unknowing" that ordinary intellectual effort cannot penetrate. The only approach is through love: a "naked intent toward God," a single movement of will stripped of all images and ideas. Below the soul lies a "cloud of forgetting" where distracting thoughts must be pressed so the soul can direct its whole energy upward toward God.
Who were the Desert Fathers and why do they matter?
The Desert Fathers were the Christian monks who withdrew to the Egyptian and Syrian deserts from the late third century onward, beginning with Anthony the Great (c.251-356 CE). They developed the first systematic practices of contemplative prayer: hesychia (stillness), the Jesus Prayer, and direct transmission of spiritual wisdom from elder to disciple. Their methods were transmitted to the Western church through John Cassian's Conferences and Institutes, which influenced Benedict of Nursia and the entire Benedictine tradition.
What is the threefold mystical path?
The threefold mystical path describes three stages in the soul's movement toward union with God: the Purgative Way (purification from sin and attachment), the Illuminative Way (growing knowledge of God and integration of spiritual gifts), and the Unitive Way (meaningful union with God). Most contemplatives describe their experience as not a linear progression but a repeated cycling through these stages at progressively deeper levels.
What did Julian of Norwich contribute to contemplative prayer?
Julian of Norwich (c.1342-c.1416) was an English anchoress who received sixteen visions during a severe illness in 1373 and spent twenty years contemplating their meaning. Her Revelations of Divine Love is the first book in English known to have been written by a woman. Her central contribution is the theology of divine love in her famous phrase "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well," a mystical perception that even sin and suffering are held within a divine love that cannot ultimately be defeated.
What is hesychasm?
Hesychasm is the Eastern Orthodox contemplative tradition centered on inner stillness, the Jesus Prayer ("Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me"), and the direct experience of divine light. Its primary text is the Philokalia, compiled in 1782. The practice was defended theologically by Gregory Palamas (1296-1359), who argued that while God's essence is unknowable, God's energies (including the uncreated divine light) are genuinely accessible to the purified soul.
Is contemplative prayer dangerous or theologically controversial?
Contemplative prayer has been questioned by some Protestant evangelical and conservative Catholic critics who argue that wordless silent prayer opens practitioners to spiritual deception or has concerning parallels with Eastern meditation. Most mainstream Catholic, Orthodox, and many Protestant theologians regard these concerns as overstated, noting that the contemplative tradition is rooted in scripture and in the lives of recognized saints. As with any deep spiritual practice, discernment, sound teaching, and a grounded communal context are important.
How does Rudolf Steiner's inner path relate to contemplative prayer?
In Knowledge of Higher Worlds (GA 10), Steiner describes a path of inner development through stages of preparation, enlightenment, and initiation that parallel the classical threefold mystical path of purgation, illumination, and union. Steiner's approach is non-confessional and framed in spiritual science rather than Christian theology, but his description of inner work (concentrated attention, moral purification, devotional receptivity) has deep structural analogies with the contemplative prayer tradition. He explicitly discussed the Desert Fathers and Christian mystics as genuine spiritual scientists working within the forms available to their age.
Who were the Desert Fathers and why do they matter for contemplative prayer?
The Desert Fathers were the Christian monks and nuns who withdrew to the Egyptian and Syrian deserts from the late third century onward, beginning with Anthony the Great (c.251-356 CE). They developed the first systematic practices of contemplative prayer: hesychia (stillness), the Jesus Prayer ('Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me'), watchfulness (nepsis) over the movements of the soul, and direct transmission of spiritual wisdom from elder (abba) to disciple. Their sayings were collected as the Apophthegmata Patrum (Sayings of the Desert Fathers), and their methods were transmitted to the Western church through John Cassian's Conferences and Institutes.
The Silence That Speaks
Every major spiritual tradition in human history has known that the deepest contact with reality does not come through more words but through the willingness to stop speaking and listen. The contemplative prayer tradition is Christianity's way of naming and transmitting that knowledge: the practice of setting aside all the furniture of the active mind and resting, with full attention and full desire, in the presence that is always already there. The practice does not create that presence. It makes us available to it.
Sources & References
- Anonymous. (c.1375). The Cloud of Unknowing. Edited by P. Hodgson. EETS, 1944. Translated by W. Johnston. Doubleday, 1973.
- Julian of Norwich. (c.1395). Revelations of Divine Love. Translated by E. Spearing. Penguin, 1998.
- Keating, T. (1986). Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel. Continuum.
- Merton, T. (1961). New Seeds of Contemplation. New Directions.
- Guigo II. (c.1150). Scala Claustralium (The Ladder of Monks). Translated by E. College and J. Walsh. Doubleday, 1978.
- John of the Cross. (c.1585). Dark Night of the Soul. Translated by E. Peers. Doubleday, 1959.
- Steiner, R. (1904/1909). Knowledge of Higher Worlds and Its Attainment (GA 10). Anthroposophic Press, 1947.
- Steiner, R. (1901). Mystics of the Renaissance (GA 7). Anthroposophic Press, 1971.